The pollster released results Monday showing Brownback down by just 4 points, 47 percent to 43 percent — a significantly tighter margin than the 10-point lead Davis held in a Rasmussen poll last month.

The most recent poll also shows a tighter race than two other polls taken in September in the governor's race.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Davis' favorability rating, at 45 percent, is also on par with the previous survey, but his unfavorable rating increased to 33 percent.

Social issues also have tightened the race. When the pollster asked people which candidate they trusted more to deal with different types of issues, Davis led in every category — spending; taxes; social issues; and ethics and corruption — last month, including a 10-point advantage over Brownback in trust to deal with social issues, the newspaper notes.

This month, the gap on social issues has narrowed to just 4 points (42-38 percent), and Brownback scores even with Davis on trust to deal with government spending: 40 percent each, the newspaper notes.

The polling was conducted before it was reported that Davis was rounded up in a police raid of a strip club in 1998. Davis said he's never been accused of wrongdoing.

The latest Rasmussen poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.